46. Taken by Frederick De Bourg Richards in Philadelphia on February 22, 1861. Another shot of the same scene. Note the people at left who had climbed a tree to get a better view. Lincoln stands in the center of the picture, looking to his left, while Tad stands to Lincoln's left leaning on the railing just above the far right star on the flag.

45. One of three photographs (see #46-47) taken by Frederick De Bourg Richards in Philadelphia on February 22, 1861. Lincoln’s journey from Springfield to Washington took a somewhat circuitous route. Lincoln is seen here outside of Independence Hall on George Washington’s birthday, just after sunrise, participating in a flag-raising ceremony to commemorate the recent admission of Kansas into the Union.

April 17, 2007

40. The second Whipple photograph taken during the summer of 1860. Here Tad can be better seen, as he climbs the post. The blurry little boy standing on the sidewalk is Isaac Diller, a friend of the Lincoln boys.

39. The first of two photographs (see #40) taken by John Adams Whipple of Lincoln’s home in Springfield, IL during the summer of 1860. Lincoln stands on the porch behind the railing with his son Willie. His younger son, Tad, who has seven at the time, can barely be seen peeking out behind the post at Willie’s left.

36. Photographer and place unknown, taken in 1860. Though author and Lincoln scholar Ida Tarbell published several Lincoln photographs she owned during her lifetime, she never published this one. It was found among her papers after her death.

35. Taken by William Shaw in Springfield, IL on August 8, 1860. Lincoln stands on the front porch of his Springfield home, surrounded by well-wishers. Lincoln is standing just to the right of the front door, wearing a white suit; his wife Mary is at the far left first floor window, his son Willie in second from left second floor window.

27. Taken by Alexander Hesler in Springfield, IL on June 3, 1860. Two weeks after Lincoln's nomination, Hesler traveled from Chicago to Springfield to take this series of four photographs (see #28-30). Lincoln, a notoriously sloppy dresser, got "dressed up" for this sitting. When Mary Lincoln saw this photo she was amazed at the likeness and exclaimed, "Yes, that is Mr. Lincoln. It is exactly like him."

26. Taken by Joseph Hill in Springfield, IL in June 1860. Hill took four photographs of Lincoln in this sitting, but a fire destroyed all the negatives of most of the prints. This is the only on that remains.

21. Taken by William Marsh in Springfield, IL on May 20, 1860, just after Lincoln's nomination as the Republican candidate for president. This is the first in a series of four photographs Marsh took of Lincoln on May 20 and May 24 (see #22-24).

20. Taken by Edward A. Barnwell in Decatur, IL on May 9, 1860. Note the spectacle cord extending into Lincoln's inside jacket pocket. Lincoln wore reading glasses for many years. He can be seen holding them in several photographs (see #71 and #109), but there is only one photograph of him wearing glasses (see #93). When Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865, he was carrying two pairs of glasses and a chamois cloth lens polisher.

April 16, 2007

18. Taken by Mathew Brady in New York City on February 27, 1860. This was the first of many photographs of Lincoln taken by Brady (or by one of Brady's assistants). This is known as the "Cooper Union Photograph" as it was taken on the morning of the day Lincoln would deliver his famous address at New York City's Cooper Union. Lincoln asserted that the speech – and this portrait – propelled him into the national spotlight and paved the way for his nomination for president a few months later. (For more on the speech and this portrait, read Harold Holzer’s excellent book Lincoln at Cooper Union.)

17. Taken by Samuel M. Fassett in Chicago, IL on October 4, 1859. Mary Lincoln described it as the best likeness she has ever seen of her husband. The negative of this photo was destroyed in the Chicago Fire.

9. Taken, it is assumed, by Christopher S. German in Springfield, IL on September 23, 1858. Lincoln said of this photograph, "This is not a very good-looking picture, but it's the best that could be produced from the poor subject."

6. Taken by Abraham M. Byers in Beardstown, IL on May 7, 1858. Lincoln was in Beardstown to defend Duff Armstrong, the son of his friend Jack Armstrong, who was accused of murder. The prosecution’s case rested on the testimony of an eyewitness, who claimed to have seen Armstrong commit the murder. Lincoln produced an almanac that showed that the murder was committed on a moonless night, and the witness couldn’t have seen what occurred. The jury promptly acquitted Armstrong of all charges.

5. Taken by Samuel G. Alschuler in Urbana, IL on April 25, 1858. Lincoln is wearing a velvet jacket lent to him by photographer. Lincoln would be photographed by Alschuler two years later (see # 41) – in the first photograph showing his newly grown beard.

3. Taken by Alexander Hesler in Chicago, IL on February 28, 1857. Lincoln thought this likeness "a very true one, though my wife and many others do not." He deliberately mussed up his hair because, he thought, people who knew him wouldn't recognize him with neatly combed hair. Hesler would journey to Springfield three years later to take a famous series of pictures of the newly nominated Republican presidential candidate.